The Importance of Baby Teeth

There are plenty of reasons to get excited when your baby gets his first teeth. Not only is it another milestone in his life, but it will pave the way for good oral health in the future. Those baby teeth are more than a temporary tooth; they are the placeholders for your child's future adult teeth, the most important aid in proper speech development and the reason that your child is able to properly chew and swallow his food.

Take Care of those Baby Teeth

The baby teeth in your child's mouth are not replaceable, like many people think. Just because more permanent teeth come in later on down the road, without proper care of the baby teeth, those permanent teeth might not have room to come in when and where they belong. If your child has tooth decay in a baby tooth, it needs to be cared for as soon as possible, rather than waiting for it to fall out. Premature loss of a baby tooth could give up the space for the permanent tooth that belongs there in the future.

Speech and Digestion Depend on Baby Teeth

Baby teeth that are not properly cared for could make speech development and digestion difficult for your child. Teeth that are lost prematurely make forming words correctly difficult for young children. In addition, strong teeth are necessary to properly chew food to be swallowed. If the teeth are weakened by decay or missing all together, it can be difficult for children to properly digest their food, resulting in upset stomachs and the development of a picky eater.